


Eye of the storm

by Minne_My



Category: Original Work
Genre: Family, Family Story, War, true story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:27:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28076961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minne_My/pseuds/Minne_My
Summary: A true story about my cousin's extended family in Romania from the war
Kudos: 1





	Eye of the storm

She heard the childish squeals of amusement up above, the perfect soundtrack to lighten up a dreary day. She ran upstairs to join them, the only constant in her life. These were stormy days and nothing was certain anymore.

The knocking on the door froze the room into silence. The family held their breath as it stopped, then started again. The girls looked at her. Her husband looked at her. They knew who that was. The world tilted and jammed, leaving her with an inch between floor and sky. It was all on her.

One glance from her and he flipped the bedcover over himself and lay still. She hushed the girls and arranged them. One lying over his feet, the others draped over his torso.

'Not a word' she made them promise.

The knocking thundered through the house. She peeked in the mirror and tidied her hair. Willing herself to move calmly, she took the stairs at the usual pace, praying for her heart to stop pounding and give her away. Upstairs was silent. She opened the door to soldiers who were trying to intimidate her front door. They barked orders at her, demanding to know where the man of the house was.

'My husband? I haven't seen him. He left without a word to me.'

They told her she was lying, that she was hiding him.

She invited in almost certain death. It was unwise, yet she had no choice but to take the risk.

'You can check if you want. You won't find him here.'

The men shouldered her aside and stormed through each room, greedy gazes sweeping the valuables. They resisted the temptation. She appreciated that they hadn't made much mess. It wouldn't take her long to clean, no broken ceramic, no stains on the wall.

They swept downstairs with no luck. Then one of them looked up the stairs. Her chest tightened and for a moment the world spun grey. She was playing a dangerous game. If they should find him, they'd all be shot. As the soldiers stomped up the steps, she sent up a quick prayer to whoever was listening that they would be kept safe.

They poked about, trampled all over the clean floor and then marched to the master bedroom. They entered to find three solemn little faces staring at them. They blinked at the intruders. The intruders stared back. If they could resist the charm of a child, their hearts were surely as cold as granite, she thought.

The men slammed wardrobe doors open, rattled drawers open and spoke harshly but the daughters kept their nerve. They didn't move, just followed them around the room with their eyes. The youngest girl shot them a smile. An innocent gesture. _What a duplicitous angel she had brought up_ thought her mother. She would have to reward them if they all stayed alive that day.

It seemed to disarm them. The soldiers glanced less suspiciously around and seemed content with finishing their interference by checking under the bed. One of them was a hair's breadth away from grazing her husband's shoulder with his gun. Should he move, show that there was life under the covers, they would be caught.

She felt like she was looking through a picture frame, watching the scene from afar. A part of her wasn't really there, perhaps the part that she had entrusted to whoever was up there. Her heart felt like it was about to beat out of her chest, her breath seemed discordant and deafening. She was sure that they could hear her cold panic. But they didn't. They passed her by like she was a ghost, their silent host.

She ushered the soldiers out once they had finished examining this little family's life, the absence of the man of the house so fresh and new. They believed her when she pleasantly informed them that he was not hiding in the hen house, it certainly wasn't big enough. They looked out of the window in that direction and agreed. The chickens were left unchecked.

She kept her back straight, her expression steady and nobody had noticed that her hands were trembling, like her soul was about to escape through her fingertips. Once they were gone, she walked slowly upstairs, feeling like she'd just seen a particularly absurd film, one of those silent ones with words across the screen. She glanced around. There were no words on the walls.

She spoke out loud, bringing her frozen husband back to life. Flinging back the duvet, he stared at her, the wary eyed creator of their shared existence. She had been marvellous.

Their daughters too, they had played their part magnificently.

They could only hope that was the end of it.


End file.
